The pragmatics of conversational humour in social visits: French and Australian English

•Australian self-oriented humour is spontaneously initiated and self-deprecating.•French self-oriented humour is a form of redressive action or self-disclosure.•Acerbic recipient-oriented humour favoured by Australians.•French recipient-oriented humour mainly consists of gentle teasing.•French speakers favour humour based on linguistic play with non-specific target.

This study on conversational humour in French and Australian English investigates how speakers use humour spontaneously in naturally occurring conversations during social visits among friends. Following the four dimensional model outlined in Béal and Mullan (2013), this paper focuses on the speaker/target/recipient interplay and the various pragmatic functions of conversational humour in a number of representative examples from the two languages-cultures. For example, Australians show a marked preference for recipient-oriented humour, creating complicity with the other participants by threatening another's face for the sake of humour. French speakers on the other hand, prefer to reinforce complicity at the expense of an absent third party via third-party oriented humour.